Wish upon the moons
by writingwillow
Summary: Sick of living with her absent father and abusive older sister, Cassandra finds her wishes granted. Story may differ from the books. Rated for language violence and later chapters. Up for adoption.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonlance.**

**This is a story template that I plan to use multiple times for different stories. While this first chapter will be more or less the same the stories will be different, more or less the main character will remain mostly the same, and keep her name. If anyone would like to use this to write a story for any other book, series, etc. I only ask that you let me know so that I don't write for the same one.**

**This story takes place after the books, with changes.**

Cassandra sighed heavily, hugging her stuffed demon to her chest and leaning against the bathroom door from where she sat in the dark, listening helplessly as her sister pounded on the door, trying to break in on her. Her shoulders were tense and she felt her head pounding helplessly in time with her sister's banging on the door.

"Come out here right now," her sister yelled commandingly. She didn't answer, it wouldn't have mattered if she did. "Come out here you fucking coward! If you don't come out here I'll burn your books, and you know I will, Dad won't do shit and you know it."

Cassandra curled further around the stuffed demon that went everywhere with her, she made sure of that because she knew he would be the first thing her sister would go after. She leaned her head against the cabinets under the sink wishing she could will herself to die, or that she could just cry, it might relieve some of the pressure she felt in her chest, the emotional weight that kept the muscles in her back and shoulders painfully tense.

Through the thin walls of the trailer she could hear pages ripping and she felt her chest tighten painfully, yet again. She always hated it when she was forced to stay with her sister, an overwhelming personality that her parents were convinced was the better of the two of them, or at least their father was, not that he was ever around.

Judging that her sister was in the bedroom at the other end of the trailer, cautiously she opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out, her heart rate at least having calmed down some. As quickly as she could she took the three steps to the front door, but as she opened it her sister came out with a ruined copy of one of her favorite books, half of the pages ripped in half, or out of the binding completely.

"You're such a fucking bitch," her older sister screamed at her as she opened the door and stepped outside as quickly as she could, feeling what was left of her book hit her in the back of the head as she stepped out and collapsed on the front step.

"You know you're not supposed to be out after dark," she heard her sister laugh from inside after she heard the lock click into place and she let her head fall back against the screen door. She looked up into the stars and again felt the tightening in her chest as she wanted to cry, but couldn't, as though there were simply no tears left in her.

Not wanting to be there when her sister decided to come taunt her again Cassandra quietly stepped away from the house and walked into the 'forest' surrounding the trailer park. It was more a small patch of trees and overgrown weeds and thorns, but it was the closest thing she had, and one of the few places her sister rarely went after dark. She didn't worry about her father, if he came home before she wandered back her sister would probably tell him she had gone out with the Mexicans across the street or something again. It still bothered her that her father believed that, he should have known her better than that, not to mention that half of what Cassandra was blamed for doing she was more than aware that her sister was, and yet it always came down to her father taking her sister's word for it.

She pushed her way through the thorn bushes and vines as she wound her way through the trees, heading for a small clearing she knew was just a few feet into the line of trees, just on the other side there was another trailer park, or a neighborhood of some kind, she could only guess from what she had seen of it that it was a better neighborhood than the one she lived in. She loved pushing her way through the trees to get to the clearing, and thankfully her sister hadn't found the place yet, at least never when Cassandra was there, or she would have found a way to ruin it by now.

She sighed quietly as she stepped into the small clearing, pulling her demon away from some clinging thorn bushes. She sat on a tree stump near the center of the clearing and took a deep breath of night air in an effort to wash away a bit of her fear and depression.

Sighing, she looked back up to what she could see of the sky through the trees.

"Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight," she said softly, sighing and laughing bitterly at herself for the thought of what she did wish, more than anything else. She thought of all the hero's in all of her books, the hero was always the person no one thought would be able to do anything, the coward that finds, to their own surprise, that they have courage, the weak that stand to defend themselves. She looked at herself sadly.

"Let me be in another world, in one of my stories," she mumbled to herself, even alone in the dark barely able to mumble the words, as though she were afraid they would shatter in the air, or that the trees themselves would find a way to take her last hope, even when she knew she really didn't have one. "any of them, just let me be in a world where magic exists, where I have some sort of a chance…" her voice trailed off softly. By now she was staring at her hands, clasped in her lap, rather than up at the stars. She knew that it wasn't a possibility, that nothing would ever happen to her, and that broke her heart more than anything her sister could ever say or do to her. She was stuck, in a world without magic, a poor, talent-less dreamer who couldn't even make friends with her family, most of which had always known she was useless.

She sat on the stump long into the night, until the wind began to blow through her and she sat on its roots to block some of the breeze. She knew she should go home and take whatever she had to when she got there, from her sister or from her father, but she was reluctant to leave the calm of the little forest, and eventually she fell asleep where she sat at the foot of the stump.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonlance.**

Cassandra jerked awake when a stray bit of sunlight fell across her eyes and she pushed herself up on the tree stump, looking blearily at the little clearing around her. She cursed at herself quietly for having fallen asleep and not going home, she only hoped that her father was already at work, considering the sun was already out he probably was. He never took a day off, and he was always gone before the sun was up, and never home before she and her sister were in bed. It was more than likely he hadn't even noticed she wasn't there, he probably wouldn't find out if she wasn't sure her sister would tell him as soon as she thought she could get Cassandra in trouble for it.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes drowsily Cassandra began to wander back through the thorns and vines back towards the trailer with a heavy heart, the trees and vines swimming in front of her. A few feet into the little woods, she looked around herself confused, she didn't recognize the trees, and she knew this little strip of trees better than she knew the little two bedroom trailer. She shook her head and dismissed it as her own ignorance as she continued pushing her way through the trees, if she was off her usual path she would still break out into the same trailer park and she could just walk home from there.

Nearly twenty minutes later she pushed her way at last out of the trees, but was surprised to see that she had now found a dirt path leading through them. She blinked, confused, looking around herself, down both ends of the path. She decided then that she was lost.

It shouldn't have taken five minutes, much less twenty, for her to push her way through the trees to the trailer park. The little patch of trees wasn't big enough for her to spend twenty minutes walking in it if she tried, not without sitting still or going in circles.

She bit her lip nervously as indecision pulled at her heart. She didn't want to go home, she hated the little trailer, living with her sister and pretending like she didn't know what people were saying, like she didn't hear them laughing at her and talking about how worthless she was to them, how they would be better off without her through the paper thin walls while her sister snickered at her from the other bed and they were supposed to be asleep.

But it was still her home. That's where her family was and that was all she knew. She had thought, and planned to run away countless times, but where could she go really.

She looked nervously down each side of the path. After years wanting to run away, now she finds herself unable to go home. She didn't know if she should be happy and run down the road in a daze into wherever it lead her, or if she should panic and try to find her way home.

Deciding that, since she didn't know where she was or where the road lead in either direction, she would go to the left, she walked, slowly, letting her feet lead her where they would. And she felt a weight settle on her heart. She was gone now, with only Jaken to keep her company. She had no money and nothing of value. She had no friends and no where to go. But she would do the best she could to keep from going home.

She had been trudging cautiously for nearly an hour, as far as she could tell, when she heard a screeching, high pitched tune. Panicking at the idea of being found and dragged back to her family, Cassandra froze where she was trying to find someplace to hide.

At the last minute she jumped out of the way and tried to lay as flat as she could in the tall grass, knowing full well she was in plain sight, but hoping that no one would notice her there, or would just dismiss her.

Tasslehoff was walking happily, twirling his hoopak around to make a tune as he went. He wasn't going anywhere in particular, but he was getting bored with where he was. He thought, maybe, he would go to Solace to visit Caramon and Tika. He hadn't visited them in a while and it might be interesting.

He stopped, grinning, when he noticed someone lying beside the road, so he decided to investigate. After all, if the person were hurt or anything maybe he could help.

As he got closer he looked at the person in wonder, whoever it was they were wearing clothes of a flimsy material he'd never seen before, and looked to be cringing into the grass, trying not to be seen.

"Ya know people can see ya, right?" Tasslehoff asked in a happy, squeaking voice. The girl jumped and tried to crawl backwards away from him.

"Sorry, I…I just…fell over, I must have fallen asleep or something." Cassandra said nervously. Tas grinned, amused at the girl's reaction, she seemed almost afraid of him.

Cassandra stayed sitting awkwardly on her legs, waiting for the strange boy to do something or to leave. She felt the stuffed demon's felt hand in hers and squeezed slightly, somehow comforted by the presence of the toy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonlance.**

Watching the girl closely for a while Tas decided that she was interesting, and maybe his friends would like to meet her. Tasslehoff grinned at her again, cheerfully.

"Where are you going?" he asked, curiously. He didn't have anything to do, maybe he could tag along with her, it might be interesting, more than things had been anyway. She just looked back at him with wide eyes. Really she wouldn't have known what to say if she had wanted to answer, she didn't know where she was to begin with.

Deciding that the girl must not have anywhere to go, Tas looked at her happily.

"Why don't we go to Solace, I'm sure Caramon and Tika would like to meet you." Tas chirped walking over to her and grabbing her hand to take her with him.

"Solace?" she asked, not sure why the name sounded familiar to her. She was already confused, and while he looked like a kid, she didn't know if she should go with him, granted she had no where else to go either. "Look, I…I don't even know you." She said nervously. Tas looked at her, surprised.

"I'm Tasslehoff Burrfoot," he grinned at her, waiting for her name. She didn't respond right away, but when he kept looking at her expectantly she sort of nodded at him to show her acceptance.

"Cassandra." She gave him her name uneasily. He didn't seem like he was a threat, or unfriendly in any way. She wasn't used to that so much.

When she realized Tas was obviously not going to leave her alone, and when it didn't seem like he was going to turn her in as a runaway or anything, she followed, nervously, beside him.

She found that he wasn't unpleasant to travel with. He was talkative, probably because he seemed bored with the pleasant morning travel. She didn't mind though, it was awkward to travel with someone she barely knew, and she'd never had many friends before, so she wasn't sure how to act. This way, at least, he seemed happy with her reactions to his many stories about how he had saved the world, and his friends in various situations.

She had been disbelieving at first, when he had talked about flying dragons, and one his friends, a mage in black robes, 'who by all accounts should be dead, or at least still trapped in the abyss, but I saved him'. He hadn't really explained how he had saved the powerful mage, probably because they had gotten off topic because she didn't believe in magic. Eventually he had essentially told her to just accept it for now, and Raistlin, the dark mage whose life, and power, he'd saved, would be able to convince her when he took her to meet him as well.

They walked, Cassandra listening to Tas' stories in wonder, for the rest of the morning. Tasslehoff leading her on several paths, she assumed in the direction of Solace.

She found quickly that it was hard to stay distant with him. The more he talked, the more comfortable she was with him, and she had to remind herself that they had only met earlier that morning, and while she had only his stories to go on, she felt like she knew him quite well. Somehow he just didn't feel like a bad person, like he was lying.

Hours later Tasslehoff, who had realized by now that the girl apparently knew nothing about traveling, having noticed by now that the only thing she carried with her was the small stuffed toy she held, and it apparently had nothing inside of it, decided that it was time they stopped somewhere for a rest, and lunch. He had a bit of food left in one of his pouches, it wasn't much, but it was enough to share between them. They would have to find a village or somewhere to get more by nightfall, or at least by the next morning though.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonlance.**

Tasslehoff and Cassandra decided to stop in a nice spot, not far from the road they were currently on and Tasslehoff pulled out what food he had, some stale bread and dried fruit mostly. He separated it between them happily, glad to have a bit of company, and deciding that was what was the most boring part, being alone with nothing to do.

"So, where are you from?" Tas asked curiously, after sitting for a while. Cassandra looked nervous, and slightly confused, like she did every time he asked about her. Though it only served to make him more curious about her than he had been. He had been all over Kyrnn, but he had never seen anyone in clothes like the ones she wore. She was human, obviously, but she didn't seem like any of the people he had ever met in his travels.

"Valdosta," she answered, putting the bread he had given her down in her lap, looking at her hands nervously. She liked the way things had seemed to be going, but then, why wouldn't he turn her in, why wouldn't he try to find out where her family was so she could be given back to them, into whatever she had come from.

Tasslehoff blinked, that was a place he'd never heard of, and it wasn't on any of his maps, he wondered vaguely if she wasn't making it up. _But then_, he thought, _I've never seen other humans like her, anything like her clothes. And I've never been to a place that just doesn't believe in things the way she does. _He looked at her curiously.

"Where is that, I've never heard of it?" She looked at him, slightly confused.

"It's not that big a city I guess," she said softly, he grinned and kept eating. He began to wonder if she was okay though, since she didn't pick up her bread. "It's in southern Georgia."

"Is Georgia the country you're from?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Georgia is the state, the country is America." She answered softly, she looked confused. "Where are we now?"

"We're in Kyrnn." He answered happily, but his grin fell slightly when he noticed the look of shock on her face.

Cassandra looked down at her lap almost expressionless. Whatever happened, she wasn't a couple towns over, she couldn't have gotten so far just wandering through the woods, not if she had walked for days, much less a few minutes trying to find her way back to the trailer. Nervous and not knowing what to do Cassandra felt at her side for her stuffed demon, panicking when she didn't find him.

She knew she'd had him when she sat down with Tas in the clearing, she knew she had, she could remember setting him beside her, so that he was leaning back against her leg. She flew up, looking underneath her. Her eyes scanned the area quickly, but she couldn't see the little green demon anywhere.

Tas, surprised by her sudden movement watched her in worry and slight amusement, he wondered why she was panicking.

"What are you looking for?" he asked, trying to catch her attention as she seemed to be retracing their steps back to the road.

"My demon, he was right here with me a second ago." She said worriedly, her eyes still scanning the ground. She was really beginning to panic, her movements were quick and she couldn't stay still.

Tas pulled out the green demon, honestly he had only picked it up to look at it. She did seem a little old to be holding on to a doll like that, so he had wondered if there were any other purpose to it. That and it two was made out of a material he would have sworn he'd never seen before.

As soon as she saw it she grabbed it and held it to her chest, sighing in relief even as her entire body drooped from the panic.

"Oh, thank god," she said softly, holding it close to her. Tas watched her, amused at the importance she seemed to attach to the little thing.

"Where did you find him?" she asked, her eyes shinning gratefully at him. Despite himself, Tas felt guilty at having taken it, even if he was just looking at it.

"It was on the ground there," he said smiling at her. He couldn't help but like the girl, she seemed so innocent at times, and it was certainly more fun than traveling alone.


End file.
